4/9/2014
Willamette Speedway
Getting Up To Speed With...Danny Altom
Getting Up To Speed With...Danny Altom
By Ben Deatherage
Danny Altom of Sodaville, Oregon has had a remarkable career in the last ten seasons. Originally from the Los Angeles area in California he grew up watching races on pavement at the legendary Saugus Speedway. Danny is a second-generation driver following in the footsteps of his father Danny Sr. He got his racing career started behind the wheel of a drag car before running any circle track events.
Altom has a championship on the drag strip at the Coos Bay Speedway and in 2012 won the Sportsman championship at the newly remodeled Willamette Speedway. We got a chance to talk to him about how the transition from the Sportsman to the Crockers Cars Super Sports went last season, how he got started in racing, and why he races the #5. Now let’s get up to speed with Danny Altom.
Driver: Danny Altom
Home Track: Willamette Speedway
Hometown: Sodaville, Oregon
Occupation: Auto Body Technician
Age: 38
Years Racing: 10
Classification: Crockers Cars Super Sport
Team: Altom Racing
Car: 5
Chassis: C.J. Rayburn Race Cars
Sponsors: Clayton Parsons, Cornwell Tools, Rebekah’s Barber Shop, County Girls Quilting, Randy Boyd Inc., Main Auto Body
Special Thanks: Joleana Altom (Wife), Devon, Brie, Jacie Altom (Children), Randy Boyd, Brian Smith, Sharron and Jim Hill (Mother and Stepfather), Danny Altom Sr. (Father)
BD: Danny have you got any solid plans for 2014?
DA: Really just to go out and make as many races as I can and have fun and get as many wins as possible. This will be my second year in the Super Sports so it should be fun.
BD: Why do you race the #5?
DA: Well my dad had a Stock Car when we lived in California and he was #5 so I decided to keep the tradition going.
BD: How did you get your start in racing?
DA: I grew up at Saugus Speedway down in California. My dad had a race car and also had a towing business. I grew up there till they shut that place down. After I graduated high school my sister’s husband had a body shop up here and needed some help so I moved to Oregon in 1994.
When I got up here my wife had a sister and her husband Randy Sapp and his father Jim raced at the time at Willamette so I went out and watched them race and then eventually started pitting and helping them out. Not long after that I started was Gary Smith and Randy Boyd and pretty soon I got a car and ran in the Classics (now Street Stocks) class.
I raced that car for three races and then one of our friends made an adjustment that made their car illegal so they moved up to Sportsman and I went with them too. But when they had two day shows seven or eight years ago I would run in the Classics on Friday and in the Sportsman on Saturday. I just got as much racing in as I could.
Before I started any dirt racing though I raced Drag Cars down in Coos Bay at their drag strip for several years. I won a championship there and decided to move on to something different which was racing on dirt.
BD: Last year you moved up to the Super Sports from the Sportsman. How would you rate the class versus the Sportsman?
DA: There is a good bunch of talent in the Super Sport class and it’s a little bit more challenging because you’ve got really good cars too and they can go a little bit quicker.
BD: Some fans may not know this but you race a Dwarf Car in the offseason at Salem Indoor Speedway. How fun is that?
DA: They’re extremely fun and very powerful for how small they are. It’s fun to keep behind the wheel almost year-round and when you come back to the big cars in the summer it is like hopping out of a Go-Kart and into a Cadillac. I found myself being able to drive the car a lot harder because in a Super Sport everything doesn’t happen as quick in the Dwarf Car. I think it has made me a little bit better driver.
Willamette Speedway will host a practice on Friday April 11th lasting from 4:00 PM to dusk. On Saturday the 12th the historic 1/3-mile will host the Cabin Fever Season Open to get the 2014 season started. For the latest news and information log on to www.trophymotorsports.com.
Submitted By: Ben Deatherage